PlayStation 6 Priced At $700 Like PS5 Pro? It’s Looking Likely

There is some concern that with the PS5 Pro launching at $700, that when the PS6 comes around, even the base model could in fact launch at $700 too. I do not necessarily think that concern is unfounded.

At the very least, I do not think there is a way to escape at least a $600 price tag, which would be $100 more than the highest price of the base PS5 model at launch. But I think it will push past that, and I think we need to look at past pricing trends for PlayStation in recent generations:

• PS3 Launch Price (2007) – $600, shortly lowered to $500 for base model
• PS4 Launch Price (with disc drive) (2013) – $400
• PS4 Pro Launch Price (2016) – $400
• PS5 Launch Price (2020) – $400 digital, no disc drive, $500 with disc drive
• PS5 Pro Launch Price (2025) – $700 digital, $80 for attached disc drive

In terms of an actual date for PlayStation 6 here, let’s take the long end of generation gaps and push it even one more year, due to the late arrival of PS5 Pro. So that would be a 2028 launch for PS6.

Why do I think it’s likely for PS6 to be $700? A number of reasons:

• PS3 launching at $600 is a “Sony burns their hand on the stove” moment they will try to never repeat, which is why the PS4 launched at a lower price. That was the only time this happened.
• But after that, the PS5 launched at the same price as both the PS4 and PS4 Pro did. However, those were the same price, while Sony has bumped up the PS5 Pro price to be $300 more than its digital model was at launch, a massive jump, and it’s still almost $300 compared to the original disc model, as it costs $80 for an external disc drive. I do not think a PS6 will launch with a disc model. It may not even be an option by 2028. But clearly this is now a totally different playing field for Sony.
• There is no reason to believe that the price would decrease from the PS5 Pro model, as that is not what happened last time, it will be 3-4 years later with further inflation, and a PS6 will no doubt be more technically complex, at least to some extent, than the PS5 Pro is. So either you keep that price or sell at a very steep loss or launch at a higher price. Selling consoles at a loss to gain market share is not uncommon but…
• Sony has increasingly less competition due to the decline of the Xbox console. Xbox “lost” the last console generation with the Xbox One, but this time around with the Xbox Series S and X, still losing, Microsoft has continually de-emphasized console sales, and its new policies are even putting some of its exclusives on PlayStation. This puts PlayStation at a huge advantage heading into the next generation, more than they had before, so that means it’s more likely than not they can push the price as far as they can.

There is no escaping a $600 price as a floor. But I think all the elements are there for Sony to keep the PS5 Pro price of $700 when the PS6 launches in a few years. And even Xbox undercutting it, if they do in fact make a new console in the end, may not change that.

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